Firebrands
by Firebrand Bard
Summary: There are a few facts in life that are undeniable 1. Being a teenager sucks 2. The opposite gender is confusing 3. True friendship can get you through anything Follow Marian Yaxley, Cassidy Wood, Katrina Salve and all your favorite Hogwarts students as they laugh, study, and fight their way through 5 years at the greatest school on earth.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Flourish and Blotts

Flourish and Blotts was always busy this time of year. Hogwarts' students piled in left and right, eager to get the chore of buying books done so they could move to more entertaining matters. That being said, there were three exceptions to this universal precept.

In the far corners of the musty bookstore, Marian, Cassidy and Katrina lingered, skimming the spines for a good book. Left and right they wove through the shelves, so immersed in the act of reading the titles that they didn't even notice when their three hands simultaneously reached for the same book.  
"Oh! I didn't see you there!" Marian exclaimed, lowering her hand to her side with an easy smile.

"It's alright. Had you two planned on reading this too?" Katrina asked politely, quickly clasping her hands in front of her.

Cassidy raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Planned? Has it already been decided that I can't read it anymore?"

Marian chuckled once at Cassidy's response then once more at the horrified look on Katrina's face as she hastily replied, "Oh, no, no, of course not! I'd be happy to let you read the book before me."

Walking forward to closer inspect the book, Marian murmured, "Strange, you would think there would be more than one copy of 'Beadles and Bard'."

Cassidy moved to stand beside her and cocked her head to the side, studying the book. "You're right, it's like the most famous children's book ever."

Katrina looked on and curiously questioned, "It is?"

Cassidy turned to her and said "Of course, our parents read them to us growing up." as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Marian snorted at this declaration but held her tongue, while Katrina simply shrugged and replied. "Well, my parents are muggles, all I grew up with was Cinderella and Snow White."

The two purebloods eyed her quizzically.

"Cinder who?

"Snow what?"

Katrina dismissed the questions with a carefree wave of her hand. "I'll have plenty of time to explain. I assume you're attending Hogwarts...right?"

Cassidy feigned a gasp "Hogwarts? What is this thing you speak of?"

Katrina's eyes instantly widened in alarm, afraid that she had given away something she wasn't supposed to.

Marian sniggered and raised a hand to placate Katrina's fears. "I believe our new friend was being sarcastic. She seems to enjoy doing that a lot."

Cassidy smirked and teased. "Wow, bull's eye! Ten points to- Oh I never did catch your name."

Marian offered her hand and announced. "Marian Yaxley, though I prefer Mari."

Cassidy reached out, shaking her hand, and asserted. "Cassidy Wood. Preferably, Cassidy."

The third girl cheerfully piped in with her own introduction. "I'm Katrina Salve!"

The other two acknowledged the introduction with smiles, or a smirk in one's case, before Cassidy's eyes ran back to the book.

"So, who gets this anyways?"

Mari shrugged. "Why don't you two decide? I don't mind."

Katrina was quick to chime in. "We could always share it...I mean we are going to see each other at school."

Cassidy looked slightly surprised as she glanced at Katrina. "That's...actually reasonable!"

"I couldn't agree more!" Mari exclaimed happily, but her expression suddenly darkened as she looked over Katrina's shoulder.

"Well, my parents are outside, that's my cue to go..." She muttered, the corner of her lip pulling down to a grimace. Quickly brightening she turned back to face the two girls. "It was a pleasure to meet you; I guess I'll see you on the train." With that, she briskly strode out of the store.

Cassidy watched her retreating figure before turning back to Katrina. "You can read it first, I think I've heard them enough."

Katrina shot Cassidy an appreciative grin as she pulled the book from its spot on the shelf, and gushed. "Well, thank you! I was looking forward to reading this."

"Glad to help! I do aim to please." Cassidy assured with another smirk, before peering down at her watch. "Well I best be off as well. I would suggest you also pick up a copy of Gilderoy Lockheart's new book. Personally, I don't like them, but I have the feeling you might." Cassidy had to bite back her grin as she took in Katrina's blank expression before remarking, with an affectionate pat on Katrina's head. "You have much to learn, young grasshopper!" and casually strolled to the exit. With that, Katrina was left alone in the store with a thousand questions about her new friends, and yet not one book that could answer them.


	2. A Friendly Shove

Chapter 2: A Friendly Shove

Katrina eyed the brick column dubiously and looked back at her two newest friends. "You're absolutely positive that you have to run into that?"

Mari calmly corrected, "Not into, through-" But did not have chance to say more before Cassidy interrupted.

"Well, I am quite positive that the sight of you running head first INTO it would be hilarious. That said, running THROUGH it is the way to get to the platform."

"It's just that, it looks... solid."

"Well, it is a brick wall." Mari pointed out.

"That's exactly my point!" Katrina exclaimed.

Cassidy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, whether it's brick or not, it's our only way to Platform 9 3/4. So either we can run through it, or stand here talking about the physical make up of a brick wall."

Katrina turned around and studied the wall skeptically. She stepped forward and reached a hesitant hand over to touch the rough wall. Behind her, Mari and Cassidy huffed and leaned forward on their carts, impatiently tapping their feet. They truly did enjoy their new acquaintance, but the two purebloods knew that if they didn't get onto the platform soon they may never even have the opportunity to build a friendship.

"Do you suppose she'll understand the concept that she is a witch and that it is a magically enchanted wall?" Mari whispered to Cassidy.

"Not sure. Though, we can't wait for her to understand. The train leaves in less than ten minutes."

"What do you suppose we do then?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Mari saw Cassidy playfully smirk, something she was getting used to seeing on the girl beside her. "Fancy a good push, Ann?" Cassidy asked.

They shared a glance of mutual understanding before quietly striding forward towards Katrina, who was still busy poking each brick of the column. Mari suddenly shot her hands forward and gave a quick shove to Katrina, who fell straight through the wall, her shriek of surprise being swallowed up as she ended up on Platform 9 3/4. Cassidy didn't hide her chuckle as she sent Katrina's cart in after its owner.

Katrina was too entranced by the sight of the Hogwarts Express standing a few feet from her to notice that Cassidy and Mari now stood by her side, having made their entrance in a much more graceful manner.  
"Cool, huh?" Mari nudged Katrina with her elbow.

"Very. Though I could have gone without the push."

"Yes, you could have. Although, that means we would have missed the train completely." Cassidy snapped.

"Speaking of missing things," Mari cut in quickly, "we are going to 'miss' the opportunity of getting our own compartment if we do not hurry up."

"Oh! Let's go then!" Katrina exclaimed, racing towards the nearest car door.

"Please, let me get your cart for you, I insist. Don't worry about the fact that I have to push my own cart as well!" Drawled Cassidy as she attempted to maneuver both her own cart as well as the one Katrina had left behind in her rush to board the train. Mari rolled her eyes and moved to help Cassidy with the extra cart. They were just approaching the luggage drop off when they heard a familiar voice shouting their names.

"Guys look! Cassidy! Mari! Look over here! Guys! Guys! MARIAN AND CASSIDY LOOK AT ME!" Both girls shared a groan before turning their heads to look at Katrina, who was currently leaning out of a compartment window a few meters away. "I found us an empty compartment! Come quickly, this is all just so cool!"

With a quick glance around they found that the majority of people on the platform were also looking at the excited, and surprisingly flexible, girl. "If anyone asks, we have never met that girl before in our lives."

"Tsk, tsk Cassidy. Is that the kind of loyalty I should expect from you?"

"I would like to think that part of my charm is that you never know what to expect from me."

"Really? And here I thought I could always count on you for a smirk and a snide remark. In fact, I was thinking I might start calling you Smirky."

"Call me that and you die."

"Duly noted. Now if you are done feeling embarrassed, let's head to the compartment."

With that the two girls boarded the train and quickly found Katrina practically bouncing up and down in her seat. The girls chatted away happily for the next few hours, only leaving the compartment once so that they could change into school robes. The two wizard born girls were attempting to fill Katrina in on any important things that she would need to know before they got to school in order to save her some embarrassment once they were there. Mari believed that for first year, Katrina needed to have at least a basic grasp of the magical candy that was sold all over the wizarding world. Cassidy argued that the most important thing was wizarding history, and wanted to spend their limited time going over key points. Their decision was made for them when the candy trolley rolled by completely bare. After asking the trolley lady about her lack of merchandise they learned that a boy in the cabin one ahead of them had bought the entire inventory.  
15 minutes later Mari was still slouched in her seat griping "What kind of selfish person would 'take the lot'? Honestly! Doesn't he realize that there are other students on the train?" Her sulking did not cease until a young girl with curly brown hair and perfectly pressed robes popped her head through their door and inquired, "Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one."

"Was it brown? Because a brown one flew past our window a few minutes ago."

"How many times do we have to tell you that the one we saw was a chocolate frog, not a toad? Key difference here, being that chocolate frogs are EDIBLE. If someone offers you a chocolate frog to eat, feel free to take it. If they offer you a toad though, run like hell because you probably just met one of those crazy muggle women who fancies herself a witch."

"Woah there. Don't stereotype Mari, they could just be French. And to answer your question, no, we have not seen a toad."

The girl entered their compartment and slumped down in the empty seat next to Cassidy before groaning "I asked practically every person on this train and no one has seen it. You would think that it has mastered invisibility spells, but if even I cannot do them there is no way a toad could."

"Never underestimate the abilities of toads. Or there ruthlessness. Awfully vengeful creatures those are." Three sets of eyes simultaneously turned towards Mari before the entire compartment dissolved into a fit of giggles.

The remainder of the train ride was spent exchanging light-hearted banter as the little group went from being a trio to a band of four. Katrina and the new addition connected exceptionally well, this was understandable seeing as they were both muggle born with a hunger for knowledge and sharp intellect. It was not until the train started braking that new girl turned to the rest of the group with an aghast look upon her face and exclaimed, "How rude of me, I never introduced myself! My name is Hermione Granger."


	3. First Impressions

Chapter 3: First Impressions

Neither Marian nor Cassidy had pictured entering through the massive Hogwarts front door looking like drowned cats. Unfortunately it seemed two passengers managed to find their way into the frigid waters of the Black Lake on their boat ride to the school.

"For the record, this is completely your fault, Katrina." Cassidy grumbled, glaring at her cowering friend.

"I'm going to have to agree with Cassidy on this one. No amount of magic is going to stop the fact that when you rock the boat, it's GOING to tip!" Mari berated, while wringing out the dripping edge of her robe, expelling a good amount of water onto the floor.

"Look, I'm sorry, ok? I was just really excited to see everything!"

Cassidy sighed clenching and unclenching her fist at her side. "Excitement or not, dripping wet is not the way I envisioned showing up at Hogwarts." She paused and sniffed her robe, grimacing soon after. "Nor was smelling like a fish."

Mari matched her grimace before forcing a smile on her face. "Well, look at the bright side, now we're on good terms with the giant octopus in the lake! Who knew he was so friendly!"

Katrina timidly raised a finger and corrected her drenched friends. "It was technically a gargantuan squid."

Mari turned on Katrina with a strangely collected look on her face. "Katrina, if you value your life and our friendship...you will stop talking. Right now."

Katrina's face paled, but she was spared from further threats when Hermione bounded up to them, unaware of the wet exteriors of the girls. "Hey, I was wondering where you three had gone off too...Woah, what happened to you two?"

Cassidy and Mari huffed and wiped a hand down their faces before giving Katrina a pointed look. The nervous girl awkwardly coughed into her hand before piping up shyly. "Hehe, funny story, you see what happened was...well, they kind of...fell into the Black Lake."

Hermione's eyes widened before her mouth broke out in a grin. "Wait, you were the two who fell into the-"

"Yes, Black Lake, we fell into the Black Lake. Very funny." Cassidy huffed, folding her arms together.

Hermione immediately dropped her smile and cleared her throat before whipping out her wand. "Here, why don't I give you a hand." She waved her wand and eloquently recited an instant drying charm. In a matter of seconds, the water disappeared from the robes, leaving them in their previous crisp and clean state.

Cassidy and Mari looked over at one another, sharing an approving grin with one another and shooting grateful looks to Hermione. "Thanks, Hermione!" They chimed in unison.

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" Katrina asked timidly.

The two, now dry, witches turned to their friend, smiling as if nothing had occurred earlier while they slipped arms around either of her shoulders.

"Of course we do!" Mari exclaimed.

Cassidy nodded in agreement, but she briefly took on a look of seriousness. "But, just for future reference. I am never going in another boat with you again."

They all glanced at one another before breaking out in a small fit of chuckles. The laughing was soon interrupted, though, as Cassidy squeaked and hopped away from the tiny group hug, with a shocked expression on her face.

"Cassidy, what's the matter?" Hermione asked.

Cassidy was about to answer but the muffled sound of a croak was emitted instead. The girls looked strangely at one another then back at Cassidy.

"Did you just croak?"

Cassidy shook her head and reached her hands behind her head to the hood of her robe. The other three girls watched curiously as Cassidy's face twisted up in a confused expression and brought her hands back in front of her. She moved her hands to uncover a fat, slimy looking toad in the palm of her hands.

"Toad...in my robe."

"Ew."

"How did that get in there?"

"Hey! Wait a moment! That must be Trevor!" Hermione exclaimed pointing at the toad.

"As in the lost toad on the train?" Mari asked.

"The very same I assume. That is, unless, you know of some other lost toad on the train." Cassidy said, her sarcasm returning again.

"It must be, Neville's. Come on, we should take it to him." Hermione suggested.  
Their plans on returning the pet were put on halt, however, as the toad made a sudden leap from Cassidy's hands and hopped its way up a staircase.

"No!" All four girls chorused.

The girls were quickly silenced by a pointed look from an imposing woman who had just appeared on the top of the stairs. As the woman spoke the girls quietly watched as Neville's toad jumped up each step, getting closer and closer to the woman's shoes.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherins. Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."

Before she could continue, a loud croak rang through the air. The professor looked down at the toad at her feet in surprise that quickly turned to unconcealed disdain as a boy shouted out "Trevor" and raced forward to collect the amphibian.

"I suspect that I just met Neville?" Mari questioned, casting a sidelong glance at Hermione, who nodded in response. As soon as the boy had slinked back into the crowd, the woman simply stated "The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." before turning sharply and retreating throughout the doors.

Once the students were unsupervised again, a skinny boy with slicked back blond hair shoved his way (technically had two larger boys clear the way for him) to the front of the crowd. The blond haired boy had a look of snarky superiority on his face as he stood with his cronies on the top step, looking down at the boy with a mess of black hair and tarnished round glasses.

"It's true then, what they're saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts. This is Crabbe, and Goyle and I'm Malfoy...Draco Malfoy." At that, the bright red headed boy beside Harry snorted loudly, calling Malfoy's attention to him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask yours. Red hair, and a hand me down robe? You must be a Weasley. Well soon find that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. Don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He confidently stuck his hand out to Harry.

Harry looked at the hand cooly. "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks."

At the last comment, a snort escaped Marian, drawing Malfoy's and the everyone else's attention to where the group was standing at the edge of the crowd.

"Marian Yaxley! What are you doing here? I'm surprised your parents even let you out of your room after how badly you embarrassed them last time." Malfoy sneered.

Cassidy was quick to defend her friend. "Well, that isn't very nice. I'm sure she wasn't laughing at you, just at that abomination that you consider a hairstyle on your head, because I'm quite sure that's what I was laughing at!"

The majority of the crowd began snickering, but the laughter was cut short when the severe looking woman returned, tapping a red-faced Malfoy on the shoulder.

"We're ready for you now."

Malfoy backed down the steps, sending one last glare towards the three chuckling girls.


	4. It's 'Sort' of a Funny Story

Chapter 4: It 'Sort' of a funny story

It was short walk to the front of the hall, but to the first years it seemed like miles. It was not lost to these students that this was the start of the rest of their lives. They would come to learn that their houses would define more than the color of their ties or the locations of their rooms, it would define who they are and who they are going to be.

"You ok there Katrina?" Mari questioned the, slightly green looking, girl. Katrina nodded in response, but her hands were visibly shaking and a thin line of sweat had formed on her brow. Directly next to her, Cassidy was attempting to appear bored, but her nervous shifting and jerky movements betrayed her anxiety.

"Why should she be nervous? It's not like this influences the rest of our lives or anything. Oh wait, yes it does." Cassidy drawled, but it was obvious that she was too nervous to put her heart into the jab.

The girls did not have to wait too long before a whisper broke through the hall and spread like wildfire, "There's Dumbledore, we're about to start!" And sure enough an extremely elderly man stepped up to the podium. When he spoke, his voice came out surprisingly strong, and despite his frail appearance, his voice contained an undeniable power. "I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you."

After his brief words of caution Dumbledore returned to his seat, allowing the woman, who they had learned was named Professor McGonagall, to take center stage again. "When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Hermione Granger." Katrina gave their newest friend's hand a quick squeeze before the girl stumbled up to the stool. An old, tattered looking hat was lifted to her head, but Hermione's wild, bushy hair prevented the hat from coming too far down. As everyone watched, Hermione's eyebrows scrunched together and her lips began moving in a quick but inaudible manner. After a few seconds of the seemingly one-sided conversation, the hat roared out "Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table erupted into a loud fit of cheering as Hermione joined them.

The girls waited anxiously as 12 more students were sorted before one of them was finally called.  
"Katrina Salve."

She raced up to the stool and only hesitated for a moment before taking a seat. The hat was placed over her head and she could have sworn she heard a soft voice speaking into her ear.  
_Hmmm, very intelligent, no doubt about that. I suppose the only logical choice would be…_

"_RAVENCLAW!" _

Mari and Cassidy looked at each other and shared a frown.

"Doesn't look like we will end up in the same house." Mari sighed.

Cassidy shook her head sadly, glancing down at her Gryffindor family ring.

After hopping down from the stool excitedly, Katrina shot a happy glance at her two friends, but her face quickly fell when she saw their dejected expressions. Mari noticed that their expressions had made Katrina question whether or not she should be proud of her sorting, and raced to give her a reassuring smile and a 'thumbs-up'.

The girl who followed Katrina had light blonde hair and an airy demeanor. It took the hat a minute to sort her, but soon the hall was filled with another shout of, "_RAVENCLAW!"_

The girl skipped off to the Ravenclaw table and immediately took a seat beside Katrina and began an animated conversation with her.

McGonagall looked back at the scroll of names and read off a name that elicited cheers from the Slytherin house and a groan from the majority of the Gryffindors, who knew of the family name.

"Draco Malfoy!"

The blond haired boy they had met earlier swaggered up towards McGonagall, smirking as if his pride had not been bruised, and took a seat on the stool. The hat was lowered but barely reached the tip of his hair, before it declared, "_Slytherin!" _

With a smug grin, Malfoy made his way to join his new and rightful house.

Cassidy rolled her eyes and Mari whispered, "Chances are the hat didn't want to touch the hair gel and just guessed what house he should be in. Can't blame it. I wouldn't touch it with nine-meter pole if you paid me a million galleons."

Cassidy started snickering but quickly sobered up when her name was called.

"Cassidy Wood!"

As she approached the stool, Cassidy heard her older brother Oliver cheering her on and telling his friends to make room for a new Gryffindor.

Trying her best to ignore him, Cassidy sat down and closed her eyes, waiting for McGonagall to lower the hat. She felt the warm brim touch her forehead, _Interesting. Well-mannered enough, but I can see that you have a bit of trouble controlling that sharp tongue of yours. Ooh, and your parents instilled the Gryffindor morals in you, and yet, I can sense your drive, your determination, your hunger for power. Well, you may have to sacrifice a little family peace, but the house that will really help you go places is…_

"Slytherin"  
"Huh, well that's going to make Christmas dinner a little awkward." Was the only thing that escaped Cassidy's lips before she stood up and headed towards the designated table. Her nose wrinkled in distaste as she glanced down the rest of the table and saw Malfoy sneering. Turning around in her seat to face Mari, Cassidy inclined her head towards Malfoy and mouthed "This is going to be a long year". Chuckling, Mari mouthed back, "Well at least I'll be joining you in a few minutes." and indicated towards the Slytherin house ring that resided on her middle finger. Cassidy raised her eyebrows in response and indicated towards her own ring, a lion standing in front of a scarlet shield. Mari's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but before she could respond McGonagall called a name that silenced the entire hall.

"Harry Potter."

After the moment of silence a chorus of whispers erupted through the hall. The name "Harry Potter" spilled from a hundred different lips as everyone stared at the small boy approaching the hat. The seconds turned into minutes as the hat debated over where to place the famous young boy. Finally, the hat shouted "Gryffindor!" causing a loud, triumphant cheer to break out at the aforementioned table. Two voices could be clearly heard above the rest as two identical, red headed boys pumped their fists and sang "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

It took a few minutes, but eventually things calmed down enough for McGonagall to continue on with the list. Five more first years were sorted before Mari's waiting was finally put to an end.

"Marian Yaxley"

There were only a handful of students still standing as Mari made her way to the empty wooden seat. With a deep breath, she turned around to face the crowd and gingerly lowered herself onto the stool. The majority of Slytherin table watched her shrewdly; they had heard rumors about the respected Yaxley family's peculiar daughter and were obviously curious whether she would maintain the family honor by being admitted to Slytherin. The hat was a bit big for her head so it fell over her eyes and rested on the bridge of her nose.

_Well this is going to be complicated. You know as well as I do that you do not belong in Slytherin. And before you protest, yes, I am aware of who your family is and how you were raised, but I know who you are, and you do not have the traits of a Slytherin. It is unfortunate that your family will most likely not be able to understand this, but the right house for you is…_

"Gryffindor!"

The announcement was met with a momentary stunned silence before a polite but unenthusiastic clapping came from the Gryffindor table. Mari was a little bit more passionate than Cassidy in her response and let out a few of her favorite curses. A thoroughly scandalized McGonagall gasped "Miss Yaxley, that is not appropriate language for school."

For a moment, it looked as though Mari was going to let a few choice words fly at the professor as well, but that expression soon passed and she ended up blushing and muttering a quick apology before racing towards an empty spot next to Hermione at the Gryffindor table. A few of the older Gryffindors looked at her distrustfully, but the two red-headed twins from earlier had designated themselves as her welcoming committee and were enthusiastically conversing with the house's newest addition.

After the ceremony and feast, the four girls lagged behind the other students to have a quick discussion before heading up to their respective dorms.

Mari was the first to break the silence. "Just because we are in different houses doesn't mean we won't see each other anymore."

Cassidy quickly nodded and added "We don't have to let house rivalry come between us. Why don't we all make a promise right now that we will continue to be friends no matter what." This proposition was immediately answered with affirmative murmurs. The four girls shared a brief group hug before racing off to find their house prefects, all of them looking forward to the upcoming year.


End file.
